E-Prescribing Rate Continues to Rise

JUNE 18, 2013

At the end of 2012, 44% of prescriptions dispensed in the United States were routed electronically, up from 36% at the end of 2011, according to a recently released report from Surescripts. In all, 788 million prescriptions were routed electronically in 2012, compared with 570 million in 2011.

Among community pharmacies, 93% can accept e-prescriptions, including 85% of independent pharmacies and 98% of chain pharmacies. (The total number of community pharmacies that can accept e-prescriptions increased 3%, from 56,900 in 2011 to 58,800 in 2012.)

Surescripts estimates that by the end of 2012, 380,000 office-based physicians were actively e-prescribing. E-prescribing rates were highest among smaller practices; 64% of practices with 2 to 5 physicians and 65% of practices with 6 to 10 physicians were e-prescribing, but just 37% of practices with 26 to 100 physicians and 34% of practices with more than 100 physicians were e-prescribing.

The states with the highest concentration of e-prescribing physicians were North Dakota (98%), Minnesota (95%), Massachusetts (94%), Iowa (94%), and New Hampshire (92%). All states had an e-prescribing adoption rate among physicians of at least 40%.